Posted by I was thrilled to buy this new book to support my relatively new local independent bookstore: Wild Lark Books. wildlarkbooks.com All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
KNIGHT RISE by DL Hammons
- Published by: Wild Lark Books
- Publication date: November 17, 2021
- Pages: 342
- Genres: Suspense (classified by author); (and from me: Thriller)
- POV: Multiple: first person, past tense (for one main protagonist, and for blog posts from another main protagonist); third person, past tense (for all others); occasional omniscient views
- Narrator: True and usually authentic, often very close
- Opening setting: Silent Sleuth Investigation office, Charolette, presumed present day
- Other significant locations: Panama City, Florida; Louisiana: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette
- Number of named, identified or described characters: 60+
Publisher’s Summary:
A group of middle-aged friends embarks on a sentimental quest. A female Private Eye obsessed with a decades-old unsolved murder. A killer trying to erase an old mistake, along with anyone in his way.
Twenty-nine years ago, Lee Hamilton was a college student having fun with friends on Spring break in sunny Florida. It was there that he met the beautiful and unforgettable Andi Taylor. They spent a magical week together. Lee was confident it would go somewhere. Then, months later, he received word that she had died.
Many years later, Lee isa widower, his own children now away at college, and after having fallen out of touch with his old college friends, Lee turns to his blog as an outlet. Taken by nostalgia, he writes about his week with Andi and unexpectedly sets off a dangerous string of events that will reunite him with his old friends but could cost them all their lives.
My Review:
You should read this book that combines a multi-threaded mystery from decades past coupled with present-day crimes in a pursuit for a poignant lost history–a possibility that could have been but never was.
On page 2 you will learn how intimately this author will converse with you as a reader when the first person POV character asks you a question as the reader. By the end of the first chapter, we hear a harbinger of ominous news from the omniscient narrator across space and time.
Early in this book we learn of a 1992 case the police have abandoned, involving the murder of Pamela Goodwin, killed in a pawn shop robbery gone bad alongside the shop’s two owners. This book engages quickly by setting up Dianne Williams, our newly appointed investigator, who starts off behind in this case, held accountable by the victim’s sister, a now elderly, Emily Bennett, with her southern drawl. The crime took place in Easley, a little north of Greenville, SC.
I immediately recognized writing talent, including how crisp the scenes and chapters flowed in interesting structure, that made me think of K.M. Weiland’s great constructs and teachings. The characters relate well to each other, and I was drawn to them quickly. There are a lot of messy people in this book, which I’m predisposed to enjoying.
Tension is omnipresent for all characters, good and bad. This book is a good craft study on how to layer tension and never release it fully.
As the book unfolds, Lee, one main protagonist, must reach back decades and summon his college friends–The Knights–to muster a worthy team to investigate this sprawling cold case. Although it wasn’t the main point of the plot, I enjoyed watching (and sometimes squirmed) as these old friends recognized how they had changed over the decades and confronted actions or inactions from their past. They weighed their foibles, failures and fortunes.
There are a few great artifacts the author uses to transport us across space and time: a college t-shirt, a cherry stem, some letters, a photograph, and others. These clues are fun and grounding.
This multi-POV tale was a little hard for me to wrap my head around at first as there are so many different threads across decades with two seemingly unrelated cases, but we know better as readers. Even with three main plot lines (and other tangential plots), we know it will all come together. Around a third of the way through, the story gelled in my mind and really took off. It took me awhile to link together all the plot lines, but the author drops in subtle clues early and slowly weaves a web between the disconnected storylines in a way that was fun to experience. This is a rewarding read.
One personal link for me was that I’m almost exactly the same age as Lee, and so living through his various stages of life was interesting, satisfying and real to me.
As this book is labelled an origin story, I wonder about the prospects for a sequel or a series. Could this ragtag team solve other crimes?
You should read about these Knights and decide what you think.